Syria newborn pulled alive from rubble

A newborn baby was pulled out alive from the rubble of a home in northern Syria, after she was found still tied by her umbilical cord to her mother.

The mother of the baby died in the massive earthquake on Monday, a relative said.
The infant is the sole survivor of her immediate family, the rest of whom were all killed by the 7.8-magnitude quake that struck Syria and neighbouring Turkey.

"We heard a voice while we were digging," Khalil al-Suwadi told AFP.

"We cleared the dust and found the baby with the umbilical cord (intact) so we cut it and my cousin took her to hospital."

Video of the rescue went viral on social media, showing a man sprinting from the rubble of a collapsed four-story building, clutching a tiny baby covered in dust.

A second man runs towards the first, carrying a blanket, in order to warm the newborn in the sub-zero temperatures while a third screams for a car to take her to hospital.

The baby was taken for treatment to the nearby town of Afrin, where the newborn was hooked to an intravenous drip. Her forehead and fingers were still blue from the cold temperatures.

"She is now stable," pediatrician Hani Maarouf told AFP.